Fausat Arilewola, CIPR’s Post

As we step into the second quarter of 2024, startups face an ever-evolving landscape where effective Public Relations (PR) strategies can make all the difference in gaining visibility, building credibility, and attracting investors. In this post, I'll share some key strategies to amplify your PR efforts and propel your startup to new heights. Great storytelling: In today's data-centric world, storytelling backed by compelling data can be a powerful PR tool. Use analytics and insights to uncover unique narratives about your startup's journey, impact, and achievements. Whether it's customer success stories, growth metrics, or industry trends, harnessing data-driven storytelling can captivate audiences and media alike. LMGPR believes a relevant story starts with our narrative storytelling engine. Forge Strategic Partnerships: Collaborating with complementary startups, industry influencers, and thought leaders can significantly amplify your PR reach. Look for opportunities to co-create content, host joint events, or participate in industry panels. By leveraging the networks and credibility of your partners, you can enhance your startup's visibility and credibility in the market.  Harness the Power of Thought Leadership: Establishing yourself and your team as thought leaders in your industry can be a game-changer for PR. Share insights, expertise, and unique perspectives through articles, guest blog posts, podcasts, and speaking engagements. Positioning your startup as a trusted authority not only attracts media attention but also fosters trust and credibility among your target audience. Maximize Media Relations: Building and nurturing relationships with journalists, bloggers, and industry influencers is essential for effective PR. Take the time to research and personalize your pitches, offering unique angles and valuable insights tailored to each media outlet. Whether it's securing coverage in niche publications or landing interviews on mainstream platforms, cultivating media relations can amplify your startup's visibility and reputation.  Embrace Emerging Platforms and Trends: As technology continues to evolve, staying ahead of emerging platforms and trends is crucial for PR success. Whether it's leveraging the latest social media features, exploring immersive experiences like virtual events and augmented reality, or tapping into the rise of audio content through podcasts and Clubhouse discussions, embracing innovation can help your startup stand out in a crowded market. Finally, don't forget to track and analyze the impact of your PR efforts. Utilize tools and metrics to monitor media coverage, social media engagement, website traffic, and brand sentiment. Q2 of 2024 presents an exciting opportunity for startups to amplify their PR efforts and elevate their brand presence so give us a call and we will help you navigate to an exciting Q2. #startup#publicrelations#siliconvalleyPR#accelerator#publicrelationstrategy

You and PR! So you've got a fantastic business idea, a product you believe in, and the drive to make it a success. But in today's crowded marketplace, just having a great offering isn't enough. You need a way to stand out from the competition and build trust with potential customers. That's where PR comes in. Public relations (PR) is all about managing your business's reputation and building positive relationships with your target audience. It's not just about press releases and media attention (although those are important aspects). PR is about crafting a compelling story about your brand, sharing it with the right people, and fostering genuine connections. Here's how PR can be a game-changer for your entrepreneurial journey: 1] Boost Brand Awareness: PR helps you get your name out there. By securing media coverage, participating in industry events, and leveraging social media, you can increase your brand visibility and reach a wider audience. 2] Build Credibility and Trust: Consumers are more likely to do business with a company they trust. PR helps you establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and showcase the expertise behind your brand. 3] Attract Investors and Partners: A strong PR strategy can make your business more attractive to potential investors and partners. By demonstrating a positive public image and a clear vision for the future, you can increase your chances of securing funding and valuable collaborations. 4] Manage Crisis Situations: Even the most successful businesses face challenges. PR helps you prepare for and respond to crises effectively. By having a crisis communication plan in place and communicating transparently with the public, you can minimize damage and protect your reputation. 5] Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to traditional advertising, PR can be a much more cost-effective way to reach your target audience. Earned media coverage, like articles or interviews, holds more weight with consumers than paid advertising, and it can have a lasting impact. PR is an investment in your business's future. By proactively shaping your brand narrative and building strong relationships, you can create a foundation for sustainable growth. Getting Started with PR: 1] Develop a clear brand story. What makes your business unique? Why should people care? 2] Identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your message? 3] Build relationships with journalists and influencers. These individuals can help you spread the word about your brand. 4] Be active on social media. Engage with your audience and share valuable content. 5] Track your results. Measure the success of your PR efforts and adjust your strategy as needed. Remember, PR is a marathon, not a sprint. Building a strong reputation takes time and effort but it pays. Follow TAGiAfrica now to get the latest trends in the Africa Crypto,Tech and Blockchain Ecosystem today. #africa #africatech #crypto #cryptocurrency #PR #advertising

In 2023, I spent $10,785 on PR Newswire to push press releases out about scaling Retention.com. It was a mistake. Here’s the unfortunate truth about bootstrapped startups and PR: It doesn’t work! The traditional top-of-funnel PR machine is expensive, inefficient, un-engaging, and for a startup, it’s very, very hard to see ROI. BACKGROUND: Last year we pushed a handful of articles to PR newswire. We didn’t have much to say, so we announced things like: - big hires - a rebrand - a docuseries But these articles were just SOO boring. It was a perfect example of a big trap startup founders fall into: Doing things that you THINK you need to be doing but you’re not sure why. Most of the time it’s driven by watching what others are doing and copying them - without understanding why they are doing it (or if it's even working). I have 3 key issues with strategies like this: 1. Pushing something out that you know sucks over a channel that you know won’t do anything for you because you feel like you have to is very “old way” 2. It’s a very NOT-human way to (attempt to) build brand 3. You aren’t fostering any type of two-way engagement or community building I think traditional PR as a brand building strategy is completely dead, and the world is set up for startups to build FAR MORE trust in a much faster, capital efficient way. How? By becoming an “influencer” and crushing the organic social media game. Here’s why organic social absolutely crushes PR: - People are on social media all day every day (more than any one publication) - People are on social media to connect with other people - You can form ACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS through creating great content - You can widen the attack surface by building up several internal influencers - You build HIGHLY VALUABLE community through dialogue in the comments - You have a GREAT feedback loop - you can see what hits and iterate on it The future of B2B sales is Human-to-Human. Traditional “push” PR efforts like PR Newswire and paying $2k to be a Forbes contributor are losing ground to the far more engaging world of storytelling on organic social media. Your prospects want a relationship with YOU. Not your company. Not your 22-year-old SDR. You can build that relationship by making yourself an “influencer”, drawing people in with your content, and engaging with them in the comments section. It’s a push vs pull model for PR and brand building. In 2024, pull wins

I must defend PR in response to the repost below: You say, "PR is dead" because you spent money on PRNewswire to push releases that you admit were "boring"? PR Newswire is not PR. PR is person-to-person. PR is PR rep to reporter. PR is knowing your media outlets and knowing something about the person on the other end of the connection. I can't believe there is nothing in your company not worth reporting about in a complimentary and brand-building way. Good PR is pulling out of the bowels of your corporate guts what uniquely puts you here and separates you from your competition and then telling THAT story in a concise press release. To that end, here's a chapter from my never-to-be-finished book (snark) on how to write one: CHAPTER 3: HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE 1) The headline should be just the facts. This is designed to save time for the reporter who are literally reading hundreds per day. Two lines MAX!   XYZ LLC ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF ITS (NAME OF YOUR WIDGET)    2)The sub-headline should be a little, one line, baby support of the headline Not repetitive but additional.   --“XY Easy” is a Direct Result of Consumer Demand-- 3)First Paragraph: Where are you? Who are you? What’s your product’s name? Why are you bothering me? MANHATTAN, N.Y., January 1, 2018—Under its mantra “It’s XY Easy™”, XYZ LLC, the first widget company dedicated to producing great widget stuff, today announced availability of its second widget--- XY Easy Too—a streamlined addition to its inaugural product successfully launched in February. 4) Second Paragraph: No editorializing—Don’t say your product is “great” or “special” or “the best” (stuff like that). These self-pats on the back are not for the press release and reporters hate it. Save that kind of love for face-to-faces. Just the facts in the press release. Made with 132 separate parts, XY Easy Too is made from reinforced widgety stuff. It’s combination of parts provides a uniform balance without the use of (or need for) things that competitive widgets force onto customers.   5)Third Paragraph: This is where you put your quote on how happy you are about your product and how much it’s going to help people. “During numerous free samplings and tests during our launch, we have seen a wide acceptance of our product,” says Founder and President, Mr. or Ms. You. “This new product not only helps our customer but makes them better.” 6) Fourth Paragraph: Wrap it up. What you got next? Research is currently being conducted to examine the potential benefits found in our products and early findings indicate that it may be a better widget than any other widget on the market. These findings are an important reason why XYZ LLC, as a company, was created.   7) Last Paragraph: Should be your boilerplate, which is your legal name, where you’re based, your physical address and phone number, your tag line and maybe your mission statement. Now go get em!

I must defend PR in response to the repost below: You say, "PR is dead" because you spent money on PRNewswire to push releases that you admit were "boring"? PR Newswire is not PR. PR is person-to-person. PR is PR rep to reporter. PR is knowing your media outlets and knowing something about the person on the other end of the connection. I can't believe there is nothing in your company not worth reporting about in a complimentary and brand-building way. Good PR is pulling out of the bowels of your corporate guts what uniquely puts you here and separates you from your competition and then telling THAT story in a concise press release. To that end, here's a chapter from my never-to-be-finished book (snark) on how to write one: CHAPTER 3: HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE 1) The headline should be just the facts. This is designed to save time for the reporter who are literally reading hundreds per day. Two lines MAX! XYZ LLC ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF ITS (NAME OF YOUR WIDGET) 2)The sub-headline should be a little, one line, baby support of the headline Not repetitive but additional. --“XY Easy” is a Direct Result of Consumer Demand-- 3)First Paragraph: Where are you? Who are you? What’s your product’s name? Why are you bothering me? MANHATTAN, N.Y., January 1, 2018—Under its mantra “It’s XY Easy™”, XYZ LLC, the first widget company dedicated to producing great widget stuff, today announced availability of its second widget--- XY Easy Too—a streamlined addition to its inaugural product successfully launched in February. 4) Second Paragraph: No editorializing—Don’t say your product is “great” or “special” or “the best” (stuff like that). These self-pats on the back are not for the press release and reporters hate it. Save that kind of love for face-to-faces. Just the facts in the press release. Made with 132 separate parts, XY Easy Too is made from reinforced widgety stuff. It’s combination of parts provides a uniform balance without the use of (or need for) things that competitive widgets force onto customers. 5)Third Paragraph: This is where you put your quote on how happy you are about your product and how much it’s going to help people. “During numerous free samplings and tests during our launch, we have seen a wide acceptance of our product,” says Founder and President, Mr. or Ms. You. “This new product not only helps our customer but makes them better.” 6) Fourth Paragraph: Wrap it up. What you got next? Research is currently being conducted to examine the potential benefits found in our products and early findings indicate that it may be a better widget than any other widget on the market. These findings are an important reason why XYZ LLC, as a company, was created. 7) Last Paragraph: Should be your boilerplate, which is your legal name, where you’re based, your physical address and phone number, your tag line and maybe your mission statement. Now go get em!

🚀 Effective PR Strategies for Building a Strong Personal Brand In today’s competitive world, a strong personal brand isn’t just an asset; it’s essential. Whether you’re an aspiring professional, a seasoned entrepreneur, or a leader, powerful PR strategies can boost your image and unlock new opportunities. Here are three actionable PR strategies to elevate your personal brand. 1. Craft a Compelling Personal Narrative 📖 Your personal narrative is the unique story that ties your past, present, and future. It highlights your core values, achievements, and professional journey, making you memorable. How to Craft Your Narrative: - Identify Core Values: What principles guide your professional decisions? These will form your narrative’s foundation. - Highlight Key Achievements: Showcase accomplishments that align with your career goals. Use specific examples and metrics. - Connect the Dots: Link your past experiences with your current role and future ambitions to illustrate a clear, consistent path. 2. Leverage Social Media to Amplify Your Brand 📱 Social media is a powerhouse for building and promoting your personal brand. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram let you share your expertise, engage with your audience, and establish thought leadership. Effective Social Media Strategies: - Consistent Posting: Regularly share content that reflects your expertise and interests—articles, insights, industry news, and personal reflections. - Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, join discussions, and connect with other professionals. Engagement builds a loyal following and boosts visibility. - Utilize Hashtags: Use relevant hashtags like #PRTipsTuesday, #CommunicationSkills, and #PersonalBranding to increase reach and connect with a broader audience. 3. Build Relationships with Key Influencers 🤝 Networking is crucial for effective PR. Building relationships with industry influencers can amplify your brand and offer valuable collaboration and mentorship opportunities. Steps to Build Influential Relationships: - Identify Key Influencers: Research and pinpoint individuals who significantly impact your industry—thought leaders, experts, or successful professionals. - Engage Authentically: Engage with their content through comments, shares, and thoughtful feedback to build rapport. - Offer Value: Provide value to influencers through collaboration, resource sharing, or insights. Mutual benefits are key to long-term success. On a final note, "Stay consistent, be authentic, and continuously engage with your audience to grow your personal brand." For more tips and insights on PR and communication, follow me on LinkedIn and stay tuned for our #PRTipsThursday series. Found this article helpful? Like, share, and comment! Let’s connect and grow our professional networks together. For more exclusive content and updates, follow my page!

Imagine a world where your business isn't just found online but thrives there. That's the power of Digital Public Relations (PR) for SEO – your best-kept secret for 2024 and beyond. Here is why you should include Digital PR in your business as soon as possible: Reputation is Everything - in today's SEO game, it's not just about link building anymore. It's about crafting a solid online reputation. Google's algorithms are smarter than ever, focusing on expertise, credibility, and influence. Digital PR is the key to building this reputation. Integrated Strategy - say goodbye to the old days of SEO and PR working in silos. Today, they're best friends. Digital PR integrates seamlessly with SEO, focusing on your reputation with both your audience and search engines. This alignment ensures your strategies hit the mark every time. No More Link Building - digital PR isn't just about links and brand mentions. It's about so much more. It's about showcasing your expertise through data-driven stories, influencing your audience, and getting recognized in your field. Links are just one part of the bigger picture. Expertise Matters - what sets you apart? Your expertise. Whether it's individual knowledge or organizational excellence, Digital PR highlights this expertise. The point is to prove your worth through unique research, customer stories, and expert commentary. Data-Driven Storylines - forget generic pitches. Digital PR focuses on crafting compelling stories backed by data. Journalists and influencers are hungry for fresh, data-driven content. Be the source they turn to, and watch your influence grow. Influence and Recognition - when your expertise shines, so does your influence. Digital PR ensures your brand gets noticed and talked about by the right people – journalists, bloggers, influencers, and your target audience. This leads to more shares, mentions, and ultimately, business growth. Audience-Centric Approach - your audience is at the heart of Digital PR. By understanding their journey – from awareness to decision-making – you can tailor your PR efforts to meet them where they are. This targeted approach ensures your message resonates and drives action.

The PR Myth: It’s so easy to become a thought leader, just use social media…. Thank you Tom Fishburne for your recent cartoon about thought leadership, social media and AI. I love the way you get to the heart of things! So just use social media and you immediately become a thought leader? Apart from some general misconceptions about PR, in today’s fast-paced digital landscape, it’s equally easy to fall into the trap of believing that PR is synonymous with constant activity solely on social media. Only focusing on a frantic pace of posting, commenting, and creating content, will not immediately make you a “thought leader”. This misses the mark on what strategic PR truly involves. Let’s check why it's crucial to see beyond the screen. · PR Equals Social Media Presence: Many assume that managing social media accounts is all PR entails. True PR is a strategic approach to building and maintaining a brand’s reputation across various channels that resonnate with your target group. But it also includes classical online and print media, website and blog content, articles, interviews, podcasts, keynote speaking opportunities etc. · More Content = More PR: The idea that constant posting is synonymous with effective PR overlooks the importance of content quality, relevance, targeted messaging, thoughtful storytelling as well as media and influencer relations. · PR Can Be Fully Automated: There’s a growing belief that e.g. AI tools can fully replace human strategy in PR. While automation can assist, it’s the creative insights, personal connections, and crisis management that define successful PR. It is undeniable that in 2024 and beyond a company and C-level social media presence is an essential part of thought leadership positioning. But it is only one part of the equation. Strategic PR is a continuous, long-term investment, so is thought leadership positioning. Be patient. It takes time to build it up. And to sustain it.

Dear Founder I know you've been dedicating a lot of time and effort to your social media presence as a founder, expert and aspiring thought-leader. It's super tough when you spend hours each day trying to expand your audience and visibility, only to find that the immediate results don't quite match up with all your hard work. You're aiming for improved brand visibility, speaking opportunities, new leads, and stronger credibility, and it can be disheartening when these goals seem out of reach with this marketing method that everyone is using (making it highly competitive and hard to stand out from a very crowded market). The great news is that we have a proven solution that can get you massive visibility and it’s something most people have forgotten about as the shiny new addictive object is our friend Social Media has kicked it into the long grass. That’ll be PR. And trust me, PR gets results. Just one published article, mention in a quality media outlet or you appearing on the airwaves can instantly build the KLT (Know, Like, Trust) that business owners are pursuing on a daily basis via posting. Readers / listeners or viewers learn about you and are ready to book a call or even sign up as all that leg work has been done in one short feature. Clients have brought in from £210k to £10k to £2k to speaking engagements off the back of a feature. I walk the talk, and I too can vouch for that when I have been on the radio and in a magazine and been booked for my high ticket programmes. Imagine the nuggets you’re sharing on your social media posts that could be re-purposed to a much wider audience belonging to the BBC, LBC, The Telegraph, The Times, Metro and beyond… We have space for just 2 Done With you clients this quarter where you get the best of both worlds – we do PR agency pitching outreach and we also train you (and your team) to do it yourself, so you’ll walk away with: ·        Killer media contacts ·        Internal and external press room ·        Knowledge on how to pitch, what to pitch and when to pitch ·        Secured media (we don’t make promises on what and where, but we promise you that we’ll pitch, you’ll pitch which will give you a super strong chance of multiple mentions) ·        Lifelong knowledge on how to shine in the media Your bonus for signing up by Friday is a Personal Brand Audit as well as a VIP half day at the Allbright. Shall we get your PR show on the road? DM for deets.

🗞 PR - A lot of hype about nothing? 📰 When you think of PR, do you automatically think of magazines, newspapers and print? Raising brand awareness offline for your brand is important but so is Digital PR What is digital PR? Digital Public Relations, refers to the use of online platforms and digital channels to manage and enhance your brand's reputation, visibility, and relationships with your target audience. It is a must-have marketing technique for businesses looking to grow and thrive in an ever increasing competitive market. How should you use digital PR for your business? Digital PR is most effective when you build long-lasting relationships with journalists, bloggers, and social media influencers who are highly relevant to your business. This will allow for your brand to grow by: 🤑 Achieving high-quality backlinks from the online publications or websites that share your content and link to your website 👯 Increasing the number of people that are talking about you online 🥇 Increasing the frequency of honest reviews for your product and services Another important element of digital PR is to be reactive and respond quickly to journalists looking for comments on a topic that relates to your business or expertise. Why should I be using digital PR? Every day, billions of people go online and search – using search engines, social media, review sites and blogs. Utilising digital channels is a great way to help you to reach new customers by focusing on what your target market is searching for. The other advantage of growing your brand awareness through digital PR is that the more valuable articles you have posted on relevant publications with a link, the more positively it will impact your SEO. Last but not least, it’s an amazing resource for building a reputation for your business by increasing the amount of positive chatter around the internet about you. Customers look to publications, influencers and websites that they trust for recommendations and it’s so important to make sure that you are seen. PR has the power to make or break your business, and combining multiple channels always yields better results. How do you get started? The first stop is to review the marketing objectives for your business, the current position of your brand and the areas in which you want to drive growth. How do customers currently view your business? What do you want the business to be known for? Have there been any bad reviews that have damaged your reputation? As with all effective marketing techniques, digital PR requires time and expertise to get the right results. Using a digital marketing specialist is key and this is something that PR, marketing, and digital agencies like Shooting Star - PR, Marketing, Digital can help you with. Read the full article here; https://lnkd.in/g4ir3ppB If you fancy a quick chat about why you should be using PR in your business growth strategy, send me a DM 🙂